Alpaca Finance Institutional Newsletter #57
Highlights
- Ethereum Trust Grayscale seeks SEC approval for spot ETF conversion
- The SEC persists in postponing its determinations regarding cryptocurrency ETFs
- European Regulator consults on crypto asset rules
Grayscale has applied to the U.S. SEC to convert its 5B$ Ethereum private trust $ETHE into a spot Ethereum ETF. This comes after the approval of the first Ether futures ETF. If granted, the spot ETF would allow direct Ethereum ownership, making a significant step towards effective regulation. The Grayscale Ethereum Trust is valued at $4.9 billion and has about 250,000 investor accounts. Grayscale remains committed to its cryptocurrency products and plans to convert them into ETFs.
Meanwhile, the SEC has once again delayed its decisions on spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs from applicants like VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Invesco, Bitwise, and Valkyrie. The new decision dates are in December and mid-January, coming two weeks ahead of the expected deadline. Bitwise Asset Management amended its application to address SEC concerns about the academic record on BTC futures and spot market relationships. These delays might be linked to the potential U.S. government shutdown that could disrupt financial regulators and federal agencies.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released a second consultation paper on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations. It seeks feedback on various aspects, including sustainability metrics for blockchains, inside information disclosures, white paper requirements, trade transparency, and record-keeping for crypto service providers. These include energy usage, emissions, waste, and reporting trading details. The feedback will be used to create technical standards, with a final report due by June 2024, and draft standards to be submitted to the European Commission.
News
- Grayscale submits SEC filing to convert Ethereum Trust to spot ETF
- Parliamentary committee calls for shutdown of Worldcoin in Kenya
- Ecosystem developers bring Bitcoin to Cosmos network
- CBDC lays foundation for new global monetary system: French central bank
Products
- Swiss bank UBS launches tokenized money market fund on Ethereum
- UAE dirham stablecoin DRAM launches on Uniswap, PancakeSwap
- VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF set for CBOE listing
- Optimism network launches testnet fault-proof system in pursuit of decentralization
Regulation
- Head of Portugal central bank deems crypto unsustainable, calls for global regulation
- Singapore awards major payment institution license to Sygnum Bank subsidiary
- Ripple gets formal approval for Singapore payments license
Funding
- Future of payments: Visa to invest $100M in generative AI
- Phaver Raises $7M Seed Funding To Grow Its Web3 Social Ecosystem
- TON raises 8-figure sum from MEXC to make Telegram a Web3 super-app
- Hong Kong crypto VC opens $100M fund for Asian blockchain startups
